Behind the Bottom Line: Power crunch fix no further than nation's backyards
Written by Administrator
Saturday, 02 September 2006
It was a turning point for me. No doubt about it."
Peter Baker is talking about the first waterless geothermal system he installed two years ago. At that point, he had been in the heating business for some 26 years, 10 of them as the owner of a heating/refrigeration business. Later, he headed a Lennox-owned company, and, after five years with Dearie Contracting, he was at a crossroads in his career.
"I had some concerns about Lennox as a corporation in terms of businesses in Canada being guided from the U.S.," he says, "and I was thinking that it was time for me to move out and run my own business again."
He worked regularly with local custom builders and was asked to install a geothermal system in one client's home. That introduction to waterless geothermal systems put him on the road to creating a company in 2004 that specialized in installing such systems.
That system intrigued me so much," says Mr. Baker. "I had done some geothermal heating 25 years ago when the systems were all water-based. This waterless system was totally intriguing for me—an unbelievable thing."
With energy costs on the rise and interest in environmentally friendly "green" forms of heating increasing, the time was right for a company specializing in heating/cooling systems that did not use fossil fuels, were considerably cheaper to run and were much longer lasting than traditional energy sources, says Mr. Baker.
With less than $100,000, drawn from a line of credit, setting up the initial venture was relatively inexpensive, he says. He and a partner, together with John Lobb, the marketing director they hired soon after the startup, worked from home offices. They kept overheads down by leasing storage bays for small equipment and sub-contracting aspects of jobs that require drilling and other heavy equipment. Within 16 months, the group had installed waterless geothermal systems in more than 50 homes across Eastern Ontario and was in a profit situation, says Mr. Baker.
In August, he dissolved the original partnership and started a new company, GeoLogic Heating Systems Inc., over which he has majority control. The company's expansion plans include offering a wider variety of heating and cooling systems as well as diversification into new markets. Mr. Lobb joined GeoLogic as director of sales and marketing.
Mr. Baker says he remains fascinated by geothermal systems. His extensive training and experience in heating, cooling and refrigeration systems gives him the background to install the DX geothermal systems, which use copper piping of different diameters to circulate an inert gas deep underground. The technology takes advantage of the fact that several feet underground the temperature is relatively constant, regardless of the season. This low-grade energy is collected and delivered into the building's distribution system.
"I have installed 30 of these systems myself—a learning curve for me as we adapted to different kinds of houses and converted other kinds of heating and cooling systems," says Mr. Baker, who will install the DX geothermal method in the new home he is building for himself.
GeoLogic sells the Maritime Geothermal product line manufactured in New Brunswick. Initial costs for equipment and installation typically run from $17,000 to $32,000, depending on the size of the building and the specifics of the land and type of retrofit or new installation. Running costs currently average a third to half the cost of other types of energy sources, says Mr. Lobb.
"In most cases, the savings that customers realize soon pay for their systems," points out Mr. Baker, adding that systems can be installed in virtually any size lot at any time of year. From his perspective, he says, "it's really rewarding to be able to offer homeowners a truly green alternative that is cheaper to operate than conventional heating systems."
The reaction to the waterless geothermal systems has been "phenomenal" he adds. "We've had such a response, particularly since energy has become a major issue. You hear something about oil and gas prices almost every day now. Some people are interested in our system because it's green. For most, it's a monetary issue."
"With every increase in the price of gas or oil, the decision to install our equipment becomes more rewarding," says Mr. Lobb. "With this equipment, we are able to withdraw energy directly from a virtually limitless underground supply. So, you can pay the petroleum industry to pump oil out of the ground or you can pump heating and cooling energy right out of your own backyard and forget about oil, gas and propane price increases."
DX systems Written by csommer on 2007-09-01 22:15:30Buyers would be prudent to do their due diligence before purchasing a DX system. Talk to people who've had them in the ground for at least 5-10 years.
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